I have been admitted by a great program -- the thing is that I need a student visa and I was told I may face difficulties to get it given the fact that a family member of mine has already filed a petition to get me a green card (immigration considers it proof of intent to remain in the U.S.) Do I go back to my native country to apply for the student visa as per the standard procedure, or do I apply for the visa from within the U.S., no matter what? Also, will it make a difference that I have been accepted at a well-known, brand name school?

From outside or inside the US you're gonna have a hard time getting a student visa because of the petition your relative has filed on your behalf. The standard of review is the same in both cases (consular processing or CIS processing), the only difference is that if you apply from within the US you can stay here even if your student visa application gets denied.

It is more likely than not that you will not be granted the student visa, I had a friend of mine in the same situation and he was compelled to stay illegally in the country for years before he adjusted status to permanent resident after his relative petition became current and he could actually file for AOS (adjustment of status). He couldn't go back to his native country as he was already illegally in the US for close to a year and he would trigger the 10-year reentry bar had he gone back to his country and process the green card from there.

All in all, you can give the student visa a try (you've nothing to lose) but unfortunately the CIS does not really care you may have been accepted by a recognized school.

[...] I had a friend of mine in the same situation and he was compelled to stay illegally in the country for years before he adjusted status to permanent resident after his relative petition became current and he could actually file for AOS (adjustment of status). He couldn't go back to his native country as he was already illegally in the US for close to a year and he would trigger the 10-year reentry bar had he gone back to his country and process the green card from there.

If the relative petition for perm residency was such a big obstacle to get a temp student visa couldn't he have his relative withdraw that petition so that he could have his student visa application easily approved?

[...] I had a friend of mine in the same situation and he was compelled to stay illegally in the country for years before he adjusted status to permanent resident after his relative petition became current and he could actually file for AOS (adjustment of status). He couldn't go back to his native country as he was already illegally in the US for close to a year and he would trigger the 10-year reentry bar had he gone back to his country and process the green card from there.

If the relative petition for perm residency was such a big obstacle to get a temp student visa couldn't he have his relative withdraw that petition so that he could have his student visa application easily approved?

You obviously don't know what you're talking about! You never withdraw a green card petition (even it may take 4-5 years for it to materialize into a green card) just to get a student visa! Do you know the hell you have to go through with an F-1 visa? Most companies don't interview F-1 students because they know they have only 1 year of OPT (practical training) and they do not sponsor H1-B visas for many reasons. They are unfamiliar with the process and know that hiring an American is much easier. Other employers may fear that international students will sooner or later want to return to the home country and training costs them (upwards of $8,000) Many employers expect employees to have excellent communication skills. Even though international students can speak and write English pretty well, it is often not at the level of American employees.

Assuming you finally locate an employer willing to sponsor you for an H1-B, such employers are notorious about cheating and abusing foreign hires, threatening to have them deported if they protest when they are not paid full salary or benefits. Labor law violations involving workers on H1-B visas are rampant nowadays and H1-B workers don't file complaints because they fear the loss of their visa. If your employer yanks his sponsorship -- which they can do for almost any reason imaginable -- the H1-Bs often must return home and try to find another sponsor -- an arduous task. H1-Bs are essentially indentured servants.

You obviously don't know what you're talking about! You never withdraw a green card petition (even it may take 4-5 years for it to materialize into a green card) just to get a student visa! Do you know the hell you have to go through with an F-1 visa? Most companies don't interview F-1 students because they know they have only 1 year of OPT (practical training) and they do not sponsor H1-B visas for many reasons. They are unfamiliar with the process and know that hiring an American is much easier. Other employers may fear that international students will sooner or later want to return to the home country and training costs them (upwards of $8,000) Many employers expect employees to have excellent communication skills. Even though international students can speak and write English pretty well, it is often not at the level of American employees.

Assuming you finally locate an employer willing to sponsor you for an H1-B, such employers are notorious about cheating and abusing foreign hires, threatening to have them deported if they protest when they are not paid full salary or benefits. Labor law violations involving workers on H1-B visas are rampant nowadays and H1-B workers don't file complaints because they fear the loss of their visa. If your employer yanks his sponsorship -- which they can do for almost any reason imaginable -- the H1-Bs often must return home and try to find another sponsor -- an arduous task. H1-Bs are essentially indentured servants.

Indians regularly describe the problems facing them and others: "This is a real human rights violation in America. You are an indentured servant, a modern-day slave." A garment worker in an urban sweatshop? No, he is a computer programmer, hired under an H-1B guest worker visa. Employers seek H-1Bs not because of a shortage of programmers but from a desire for cheap indentured labor. Imported programmers and engineers are paid 15-33% below normal. Even highly pro-business Forbes Magazine cites a pay gap of 25-30%. The Wall Street Journal has reported that the H-1Bs are paid $20-25K less than Americans with the same skills.

Most H-1Bs want their employers to sponsor them for green cards. It is here that the de facto indentured servitude arises. They do not dare change employers, as that would necessitate renewing the green card process and therefore losing time they had already put in. In recent years, an H-1B would typically be stuck in a job for about 5 years. The law requiring that H-1Bs be hired at the prevailing wage is riddled with loopholes. H-1Bs aren't going to get raises either -- if one cannot leave, one has no bargaining power.

And though some employers do not cheat their H-1Bs relative to American programmers of the same age and background, they still save on salaries by hiring H-1Bs whose median age is 28, instead of hiring more expensive Americans over age 49. Even the industry-dominated high-tech work force Committee of the National Research Council concedes that employers often prefer younger programmers, but the ex-programmers forced into other fields do not count in such data. Yet US citizens and permanent residents do not get priority over the imports. Employers who favor aliens have an arsenal of legal means to reject all US workers who apply.

Indians regularly describe the problems facing them and others: "This is a real human rights violation in America. You are an indentured servant, a modern-day slave." A garment worker in an urban sweatshop? No, he is a computer programmer, hired under an H-1B guest worker visa. Employers seek H-1Bs not because of a shortage of programmers but from a desire for cheap indentured labor. Imported programmers and engineers are paid 15-33% below normal. Even highly pro-business Forbes Magazine cites a pay gap of 25-30%. The Wall Street Journal has reported that the H-1Bs are paid $20-25K less than Americans with the same skills.

Most H-1Bs want their employers to sponsor them for green cards. It is here that the de facto indentured servitude arises. They do not dare change employers, as that would necessitate renewing the green card process and therefore losing time they had already put in. In recent years, an H-1B would typically be stuck in a job for about 5 years. The law requiring that H-1Bs be hired at the prevailing wage is riddled with loopholes. H-1Bs aren't going to get raises either -- if one cannot leave, one has no bargaining power.

And though some employers do not cheat their H-1Bs relative to American programmers of the same age and background, they still save on salaries by hiring H-1Bs whose median age is 28, instead of hiring more expensive Americans over age 49. Even the industry-dominated high-tech work force Committee of the National Research Council concedes that employers often prefer younger programmers, but the ex-programmers forced into other fields do not count in such data. Yet US citizens and permanent residents do not get priority over the imports. Employers who favor aliens have an arsenal of legal means to reject all US workers who apply.

Internationals may be paid less than American workers, they may be reduced to indentured servants and involuntary servitude, but I don't hear them complain as much as you do! I mean, they are grateful they even have a job! Do you know how many students do not even get an offer because of their international student status?

I know a Turkish student, for instance, who finished his graduate studies chemical engineering in New York after graduating from one of the most prestigious universities in Turkey. At the end he started working for a company in Long Island he did not want to. He says that when you go to an interview, the first question they ask is "Do you have a Green Card?" The second question is "Will you be needing a sponsor in the future?" If you don't have a green card and you need a sponsor, they never even get back to you.

Internationals may be paid less than American workers, they may be reduced to indentured servants and involuntary servitude, but I don't hear them complain as much as you do! I mean, they are grateful they even have a job! Do you know how many students do not even get an offer because of their international student status?

I know a Turkish student, for instance, who finished his graduate studies chemical engineering in New York after graduating from one of the most prestigious universities in Turkey. At the end he started working for a company in Long Island he did not want to. He says that when you go to an interview, the first question they ask is "Do you have a Green Card?" The second question is "Will you be needing a sponsor in the future?" If you don't have a green card and you need a sponsor, they never even get back to you.

stripmeta, you are a sick m o t h e r @ # ! * e r!!! Just like American schools and employers that enslave people!

[...] I had a friend of mine in the same situation and he was compelled to stay illegally in the country for years before he adjusted status to permanent resident after his relative petition became current and he could actually file for AOS (adjustment of status). He couldn't go back to his native country as he was already illegally in the US for close to a year and he would trigger the 10-year reentry bar had he gone back to his country and process the green card from there.

If the relative petition for perm residency was such a big obstacle to get a temp student visa couldn't he have his relative withdraw that petition so that he could have his student visa application easily approved?

You obviously don't know what you're talking about! You never withdraw a green card petition (even it may take 4-5 years for it to materialize into a green card) just to get a student visa! Do you know the hell you have to go through with an F-1 visa? Most companies don't interview F-1 students because they know they have only 1 year of OPT (practical training) and they do not sponsor H1-B visas for many reasons. They are unfamiliar with the process and know that hiring an American is much easier. Other employers may fear that international students will sooner or later want to return to the home country and training costs them (upwards of $8,000) Many employers expect employees to have excellent communication skills. Even though international students can speak and write English pretty well, it is often not at the level of American employees.

Assuming you finally locate an employer willing to sponsor you for an H1-B, such employers are notorious about cheating and abusing foreign hires, threatening to have them deported if they protest when they are not paid full salary or benefits. Labor law violations involving workers on H1-B visas are rampant nowadays and H1-B workers don't file complaints because they fear the loss of their visa. If your employer yanks his sponsorship -- which they can do for almost any reason imaginable -- the H1-Bs often must return home and try to find another sponsor -- an arduous task. H1-Bs are essentially indentured servants.

True, you'd still have spent years to get the green card via the difficult H1-B route, but at least you'd be working as opposed to doing nothing valuable to push forward your career when being illegally in the country waiting for the petition to become current ..

inertia, pretty much everyone would not mind working, but you want to be compensated for what you are worth -- so that with a touch of sardonic humor it can be proved that sometimes you can earn a lot of money by just working ..

inertia, pretty much everyone would not mind working, but you want to be compensated for what you are worth -- so that with a touch of sardonic humor it can be proved that sometimes you can earn a lot of money by just working ..

I think it was Mr. Gekko who said, \"The richest 1% of this country owns half our country\'s wealth, $5,000,000,000,000. One third of that comes from hard work, two thirds comes from inheritance, interest on interest accumulating to widows and idiot sons and what I do, stock and real estate speculation. It\'s bull. You got 90% of the American public out there with little or no net worth. I create nothing. I ownn,\" wasn\'t he?